North Mason clobbered at Kickoff Classic

North Mason can't keep pace with W.F. West in 44-0 loss.

North Mason had visions of enacting a bit of revenge against the Bearcats from W.F. West of Chehalis.

Instead, it was W.F. West keeping the Bulldogs offense from doing much of anything in a penalty-filled 44-0 win over North Mason in the third game of the Emerald City Kickoff Classic at CenturyLink Field Saturday.

Last season, North Mason lost to the Bearcats 43-20 in their opener. Since then, the Bulldogs were itching to take on W.F. West again and prove to themselves they could play with — and possibly beat — one of the best teams in the 2A classification the last few years.

Senior quarterback Tommy Renne was disappointed the offense wasn't able to click against a Bearcats defense that was fast off the line.

"I don't like losing," Renne said.

Was it possible that playing at an NFL stadium had the players a little wide-eyed?

Renne said it might have given the players some added nerves, but there were "no excuses for a performance like that," he said.

Both teams kept the umpires busy with 22 penalties being called in the game.

WF's first touchdown capped off a 12-play, 63-yard drive that was kept alive in part by three NM penalties. Mitch Gueller connected on a 35-yard pass to Joseph Rothlin at 6:25 of the first quarter.

Gueller, who gave a verbal commitment to play football and baseball at Washington State next year, found Colton Watson from 25 yards out to give the Bearcats a 14-0 lead later in the first quarter.

NM's offense struggled against a Bearcats defense that swarmed around Renne and fullback Brody Stromberg anytime they ventured past the line of scrimmage. Renne finished with 17 yards on 14 carries and Stromberg was limited to seven yards on three carries.

NM coach Jeff Bevers said a lot of what happened on the field was more mental mistakes and players not taking care of assignments.

"I don't believe it was a physical issue," he said. "It's everything that can be fixed,"

Trailing 21-0 in the second quarter, Renne broke free to the outside on first-and-10 on NM's own 18-yard line. Renne took off down the right sideline for a 58-yard gain to give the Bulldog faithful something to cheer about.

The cheers didn't last long.

On the next play North Mason fumbled the hand off and West's Levi Taylor recovered. NM had four turnovers for the game.

Bevers said the Bulldogs will get back to work Monday and prepare for non-league opponent Washington.

"They're expected to win the 2A SPSL league," he said of the Patriots. "They're tough scrappy kids and they're finally learning how to win."W.F. West 44North Mason 0